How many vegetables are you eating? The recommendation is 5-7 servings a day, but do you know how many servings the average American gets? 2 servings.
I mentioned on Monday, that I could stand to eat more vegetables so I wanted to share my 5 steps to helping me do that.
I am a bit of an expert myself in the no vegetable area of expertise. I did not start consistently eating vegetables until I was in my late 20's. Nothing quite like telling your son to eat all his vegetables, when the last vegetable you had was a carrot that came with some wings while you were in college.
My 5 steps to eating more vegetables:
1. Get the day started right
Vegetables at breakfast? Crazy talk! I love me some eggs and I eat them nearly every day, so why not add some veggies? Try some frozen vegetables, heat up some coconut or olive oil, cook your vegetables in the oil, then throw in some eggs for a delicious meal. Try a green smoothie if you are in more of a rush.
2. Experiment
Get crazy baby! Go into the produce aisle and try something you can't even pronounce. Just as a heads up, you will have some stuff you love but also stuff you will want to spit out. Being a trailblazer is fraught with danger and vegetables you don't like. Pretty sure Bear Gryllis said that.
Also experiment with cooking styles: grilling, sautéing, boiling, raw. I thought asparagus was terrible, until I had asparagus brushed with olive oil and grilled. All about the preparation.
3. Pre-made saves the day
I'm too lazy to rip a head of lettuce up into a salad. Grocery stores know this, so they have you covered. Buying the bag of salad or the big trough of salad is an easy option. Makes it real easy to throw some salad into a container and add a protein.
For instance, today I had my lettuce, chicken breast I grilled recently, a few cranberries, and some olive oil poured over the top. Shake it all up to mix everything and you have a quick and healthy meal. FYI- You still need to wash the lettuce, even if it has the triple wash guarantee.
4. Get the salad bar and actually get some salad
I went to Ruby Tuesday's after last week and got the salad bar. Great salad bar, but I saw some people pull of a pretty impressive feat. Get a giant plate of food from the salad bar and not get one vegetable. It was amazing!
There was cheese, bacon, pasta salad, the mayo filled fruit salad thing, spooky ham cubes, croutons, and salad dressing. Pretty impressive, but not that great for you. I am also a big fan of Jason's Deli's salad bar if you are looking into gift certificates for me.
5. Make it a priority
This is the most important thing. If you make it a priority you will eat more vegetables on a consistent basis. Don't make it a priority and you will continue to eat vegetables sporadically.
